Friday, March 29, 2013

Making vegetable soup is almost as easy as
getting it from the can, that is, if you have a slow cooker and just a little
bit of time!

First off, there is really no 'correct' way to make
vegetable beef soup, other than having a few veggies on hand to throw into a
pot or slow cooker. Obviously, having some chunks of beef cut up into
bite-sized pieces would be nice also. Other items that are required (for my
version of this soup anyway), is a can of petite diced tomatoes, a carrot or
two, a small potato, celery, green beans, corn some spices and a cup and a half
of water. The only precooking required is to braise the beef chunks in a medium
hot skillet for a few minutes.

Otherwise, just cut every thing into small pieces
and dump it all into the slow cooker. For the spices, I like to use Lite Salt
(50% fake salt), pepper and a smidgeon of cayenne pepper for some added
bite. I add all these at the same time, replace the lid on the slow cooker, set
it on high for three hours and then reduce the heat to the low setting for
another three. Voila! Soups on!

That's all there is to it! Other than to go and enjoy
the soup, that is!

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Well, it was only a matter of time, wasn't it? It seems a California official is
breathing new life into the argument that ‘since most everything else is taxed’,
why then he asks, is email exempt!

Berkley City Councilman Gordon Wozniak brought up taxing
emails during a recent council meeting. His thinking was that the taxes collected
could be used for stuff like saving the local post office. Gordon is currently
suggesting that the tax be tiny, initially at least.

There have also been suggestions that this seedling of an
idea could be rapidly expanded to tap into all data that a person uses
including heftier amounts in the area of e-commerce. Sort of like a sin tax
without the sin.

His plan is not really new. It was addressed back in 1998
and resulted in the passage of the Internet
Tax Freedom Act, which bans Internet taxation. However, that law is set to
expire in November, a fact that our cash strapped Federal Government is well
aware of.

--------------------

Personally, I think this is a great idea as it would allow for Washington to find some much needed relief for programs
that the Sequester Act has currently slowed down. If the amounts of taxes for
data could be raised high enough, then perhaps some of the monies could be used
to form a new entitlement program or two, who knows. In either case, taxing a
person by the volume of data they use would hopefully slow down those who
overuse the Internet for personal gain while slowing it down for the poor who
don’t use it as much. And, that not fair or very progressive.

Monday, March 25, 2013

As I am already jittery and primed to panic after watching hours and hours of doom and gloom on the TV media outlets, I did a double take at the local grocery store when I saw a head of iceberg lettuce going for $2.59!

Was it time for me to panic and begin throwing stuff into my basket willy-nilly? Was ugly inflation finally taking a serious hold? No, to all the above. Blame the price increase for this and other veggies on cold temperatures that have ruined crops from California to Arizona and beyond.

Retail and wholesale prices for everything from iceberg lettuce to
asparagus are soaring because of shortages and crop damage. Warning
signs have gone up in some supermarkets. Price hikes are also hurting
restaurants, where some vegetables have more than doubled in cost. Want some fresh asparagus? Don't even think about it.

In the winter, about 90 percent of vegetables consumed in the U.S. are grown in
Imperial Valley, Coachella Valley and Yuma, Ariz., according to the
Irvine-based Western Growers Association. About 25 percent of leafy
greens grown in that region – such as romaine and iceberg lettuces –
have been damaged, the association said this week. So, get ready to pay higher prices, at least until the spring growing season cranks up - or - do what I'm doing by growing your own!

Sunday, March 24, 2013

CINCINNATI (AP) -
America's
most famous groundhog might want to go back into hibernation.

Punxsutawney Phil is facing a "criminal
indictment" for falsely predicting an early spring. Tradition has it that
winter will end quickly if the rodent sees his shadow after emerging from his
western Pennsylvania lair on Feb. 2, an annual ceremony that dates back to the
19th century and was immortalized in the Bill Murray movie "Goundhog
Day."

'I guess every man has
a secret somewhere in their lives. Mine was a woman, a mail order bride if you
will, who came into my life speaking a language I could just barely
understand and who began demanding things from me that are unspeakable to describe to this day...

Her name was Niamomnni and I guess in her native tongue it meant ‘endless talker’, for from the day she arrived, Nia (my name for her)
wouldn’t stop talking. Ever! I’d arise in the morning to her endless chatter, none
of which I had even the vaguest idea of what was being said. And, I would go to sleep at night with here lips constantly moving next to my ear. All mostly gibberish. In fact, the only
English she ever seemed to pick up, for the years that she was with me, was ‘visa card
please’ and ‘do washy washy’ when she needed money or the laundry done. But that wasn’t
the worst of it, that wasn’t what caused me to begin plotting her death…'

Unfortunately, this book was banned in Americadue to the President's new 'Safe Reading' initiative.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

If it were not for the likes of President Obama and some of the
others comprising the Far Left, the current incredible run on guns and
ammo might never have transpired. As it is, Americans everywhere have bought so
much ammo and so many guns, all based on fears concerning new laws, that even
many enforcement agencies are now facing their own
shortages!

This shortage has also affected the Department of Homeland Security which has announced that it
wants to buy more than 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition in the next four or
five years for it own ‘training programs’. (This would be somewhat more that
the estimated 470 million rounds that were used to fight all of the last Civil
War)! And, all this pressure is sure to have at least two other effects; 1) the cost of
purchasing ammo will increase dramatically in the near term, and 2) Obama will
be soon seen as a real asset to gun and ammo manufacturer’s everywhere! Heck,
they may even give him some sort of award!

Thursday, March 21, 2013

After all the early media coverage of an impending snowfall
that was originally publicized by the National Weather service as a ‘snowstorm’
on Tuesday, maybe people in the Forsyth area were perhaps a bit over primed for what
was in reality going to be a very minor snowfall. Or, maybe it would be nothing at all…

After arising early, I made my way over to the local Country
Mart where breakfast is served from 7:30 AM to 10:30 AM most every day. As I
ordered, one of the ladies in the Deli area asked me what I thought. She had
one eyebrow arched and was about to add a heaping pile of scrambled eggs to my
plate.

I answered, ‘About what?’

‘The weather, of course', she retorted. (It seems my
reputation for being a weather nut had preceded me).

I told the lady that I felt whatever snow did mange to fall
would more than likely melt once it came into contact with the road surfaces.
And, I couldn’t help adding, ‘And, gee lady, are ya scared of two measly inches?’

As those words left my mouth, I had reason to immediately
regret it as she gave me a much smaller portion of scrambled eggs than I was
used to….Hmm, I thought to myself, maybe sometimes brevity really is bliss.

After eating, I got up and did my shopping. It was just
after 8 AM and yes, I wanted to get it done early…just in case we got actually did get a boatload of snow.

As I exited the store, a short time later with a bag of
groceries in tow, the sun came out and it turned out to be a fine day after all.

At .92 cents (plus tax) circa 2013, the Chicken Pot Pie from
Banquet is still somewhat of a bargain. Amazingly, that’s pretty much what they
cost back in 2011 when I did a similar review.

So, here we are in 2013 – and moving ever so rapidly into
Obama’s concept of Changing America. (It’s a Progressive thing or so I’m told)!
Nothing much has changed these past four years – my friends are mostly still
out of work or on some form of entitlement, so we all have to shop around for ‘cheap
eats’ we like on a regular basis. Pot pies fill that bill nicely.

One of my favorites is the ubiquitous Chicken pot pie, a product that has been around in one form or
another ever since I was a small tike. (When my parents couldn’t afford decent
food, they could always shell out a quarter or so for a pot pie). As I
remember, we had them quite often back then. Even today, these products from
Banquet do go on sale – I just recently picked up a bunch that sold to .59¢!
Not bad considering…

Today, the pot pie has come a long ways. They’re ‘nukeable’
now and so don’t require a hot oven to be cooked in. Just 4 to 5 minutes in a
microwave does the trick. The smell, however, is unique to this dish and hasn’t
changed very much over the years. Heavenly!

On the bad side of the eating coin, pot pies are high in salt and
saturated fats (see label) and so I don’t make eating them an everyday thing.
Still, for a fast hot meal, on the go, they can’t be beat!

I’ve recently launched a web site (www.taneyservices.com) that has weather
as a primary focus. While it’s intended to cover the Taney County
Missouri area, there are elements that might be of interest for people
living in other parts of the US.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

One way to make it all work in this
dismal economy while still socializing has to do with eating out. My
personal thing is to get up early and to go out for breakfast.
Something I do about twice a week. It gets my day going on a positive
note or failing that, it at least gets me out of bed.

On my last outing, I ordered the steak
and eggs platter from a local eatery. The cost was $9.54. But, rather
than eat it all I one setting, I brought some of the hash browns and
about half the steak home with me. The next morning, I cobbled
together a rather nice repast that ameliorated the high price of eating out to some extent.

How many of you out there think that
really bad times are ahead?

Show of hands! Now, I'm not talking about bad times in
the sense that bread will cost $5 a loaf or bad times in the sense
that unemployment remains high. No, I'm talking about a flat out AMERICAN
REVOLUTION or even a CIVIL WAR where a whole lot of shooting will be going
on right in your very own neighborhood. (That's usually the end result
of a collapsed economy isn't it)? I mean, if (or when) the dollar becomes
worthless, what do you all think is going to happen to our society? Do you think
your government will bail everyone out? Or, will we all wonder where the heck
all the public officials have disappeared to....?

You know, at a time when many of us
don't even know our neighbors very well, something like a civil war can be a very scary thought. In the last civil war, we had the local community and church to fall back on. Yet I wonder, if
things go really south, who will have my back today?

How can something so small, make me
so miserable?

This picture was taken through my
microscope and it shows pollen grains at about a 250x magnification.
I collected this pollen from a nearby juniper tree of which there are
about a billion near my home. I also happen to be very allergic to
this pollen (among others). And those trees! They're all absolutely
loaded with the stuff! (A fact that does not bode well for me over the
next many weeks).

As part of my defensive plan, I've purchased a
small HEPA air filter and have installed in into a small room which
is where I shall retreat to if my nose begins to run. If this plan
works out, I'll be sure to do a follow up later this spring. and oh, yes! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Back in the fifties, this was a question newlywed’s were often concerned about. They knew that men typically liked their 'dogs' served warm and juicy. Cooking them in a skillet would often dry them out! Uck! So, experts, back in the day,
advised newly married housewives to gently boil her husbands wiener until it was
just warmed through. And ladies! Those buns had also better be nice and hot too!

That was then....

Today, women have the microwave oven and cooking that bad old dog is no big thing! What I'd say?

“If you’re not catching flak you’re not over the target”

Are we living in a
nation full of retards?

Bang! You're dead...

Are we all now so retarded that we allow the Media to
emotionally push us in whatever direction they happen to choose? Take the ‘knives
on planes’ debate. To hear the media talk, the TSA and their decision to allow
small pocket knives onto planes again is very close to treason. Left leaning
outlets like MSNBC and ABC would have you believe that the minute these small
pocket knives are allowed back on board, some stewardess is sure to have her neck
slashed! Give me a break. In a town next to me, the police recently stage a
live shooter scenario at a local school. Even though the odds of such an
incident happening are 1 in 143,000!(I’d
wager that kids are much more likely to be hit by some mom or dad who’s talking
on a cell phone while driving through in a school zone). People! You need to
quite letting these idiots on TV influence logical thinking processes. OK? Now
as to the suspension of that young boy who fashioned a ‘gun’ out of a pop tart.
Well, hey! That was more than justified.

Obama-Care will
destroy the US
Economy!

Who is saying such things? Is it those crazy old
Republicans? I’m sure they’re still desperately clinging to the hope of saving
all those rich Corporations at the expense of the poor and down trodden. Why
just the other day, our President assured a scared Nation that everything is
looking up! Obama has made it crystal clear that the only thing holding the
economy back IS THOSE DAMN REPUBLICANS! Were it not for those insane Right
Wingers, this country’s 17 trillion dollar debt would like vanish almost
overnight. (And, we can all make sure that happens by voting a straight
Democratic ticket in 2014)!

Once both houses are in the hands of the Democrats, our
illustrious President can forge ahead with His plans to create a set of vast
new entitlement bureaus that will allow his vision of Big Mamma Government or BMG to come to fruition.

Uh, hold one a sec – a friend just informed me that it was not
the Republicans who said ObamaCare will wreck the nation; it was a statement
issued by the General Accounting Office. Sorry, my bad….

OK, so how long will inflation
stay away?

A key concept that underpins the many plans by Senate to deal
effectively with the National deficit depends heavily on interest rates remaining
low. The mantra in Washington
is that as long as that continues; we can all ‘party on dude’.

If, or should I say when, those rates begin to creep upwards,
a whole new reality will quickly settle over the land. Consider this. Last year
our government forked over $220 billion (that’s 18 billion per month) just to pay
the interest on our debt. That’s about $227 out of every taxpayer’s pocket. And,
at the current rate of increase in borrowing, our nation will be looking at a staggering
yearly figure of 1 trillion in interest
payment alone with most of those payments going over to Asia.
And, that is at current interest rates. We are in a trap and it’s a fact
that as we continue to borrow more and more (above and beyond) what we make, the
interest rates will begin to climb higher.
And, even modest 1.8 percent increase would have potentially catastrophic consequences
for our economy.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

For some reason, the folks at HC
decided that they needed to placed the word 'BAKED' in super large
words for some reason that is unclear to me. Isn't the dish, by
definition, already pre-baked before it was frozen? I mean you don't
really cook this entree in just a few minutes in the microwave do
you? Sheesh! They also inform the buyer that the lasagna is made
'with meat sauce'! Well, what else would they make it with? Tofu
fashioned to look like meat? Give me a break guys. Lastly, you'll
note that they are obviously proud of the fact that there are 'No
Preservatives'! Duh! That's because this is a frozen product and not
a canned one.

Media version vs real thing!

OK, all that aside, I made the plunge
and brought one home to try out. Check out the picture of this meal
that they post of their web page with a side by side view of the real
thing. Hmm. I think I'd like to choose what's behind curtain one...

Nutritionally, what you get for this
269 gram square of pasta, cheese and meat is about 280 calories. (Not a diet buster, that's for sure). And, there was
really not all that much in the way of cholesterol or salt (15 mg and
380 mg respectively). Take note that these low levels of sodium and cholesterol are the reason why the Healthy Choice line of products was invented
in the first place. It seems the owner of the company was looking for
ways to survive his poor cardio-health while still eating what could
be classified as 'junk' food. (It also helps to explain why the Healthy Choice logo'd products are generally more expensive than other brands that contain similar meals). In general the less salt there is in a TV style dinner the worst it's likely to taste!

So, it was with some trepidation
that I popped it into my microwave set on high for about seven
minutes after first cutting a slit in the film cover as directed. There was no
stopping and stirring required which I really liked. After the required
time had elapsed, I removed it to my table and prepared to dig in.

As to the taste... OK, I must tell you
I've had great homemade lasagna in the past. A friend named Sharon
Davidson used to made me some of the finest lasagna I've ever tasted.
(A true culinary experience by which I judge all others that came
after). This offer by Healthy Choice was no where near that! Was it
edible? Sure. I'd give it a 6 on a scale of 10, to give everyone some
idea of how I felt. Would I spend $3 buck on it again. Maybe...

Friday, March 8, 2013

Don’t panic, but if you take a careful look at the area
cedar trees that grow all over southwestern Missouri, you’ll find them looking rather brown! That’s because they are
just about ready to burst with loads and loads of airborne pollen. And, those tiny
little particles can mean shear misery should you happen to be allergic to them. But, that’s not all! Hot on their heels are the elm and maple trees!

I happen to be allergic to all three, and seeing that graph
of pollen levels for the next four days has gotten me motivated to set up and
turn on a HEPA air filter I recently purchased for my home. Last year, I suffered mightily as every
surface around my place became coated with a greenish sludge. This year, I plan
to have a retreat where I can go to for a does of clean fresh air. That’s the
plan anyway. I’m banking on the fact that by limiting my exposure to fewer
hours each day, I might just be able to skate by the worst of the symptoms!

I promised to follow up on this post later on in the spring.
Wish me luck!

Friday, March 1, 2013

Sequestration Day 1. Promptly, at 5 AM, I bounded from my bed almost like a kid
on Christmas Day! You see, I was so excited to get up and get out to observe the
chaos my President had promised on this, the first day of massive federal cuts!

After getting a quick shower and shave, I elected to dress
into something drab and gray. No sense in drawing any attention to myself, I
reasoned. I was sure that there would be rioting mobs on the main streets of my
small town as many found themselves suddenly rendered unemployed by the mindless slashing
of budgets everywhere. For sure, I reasoned, there would be angry crowds at the
various government offices scattered around town. And I was also pretty sure
that there would be unsettled knots of unhappy teachers perhaps with signs
marching around the local school. So much for me to see and do and so little
time to get it done…

You can imagine my surprise when a drive through town proved
totally uneventful. Even the grocery store was pretty much business as usual
for a Friday morning. I didn’t know what to think. After all the unpleasant things that the
President had implied would happen, I was sure at least one group of angry
citizenry would be out and about! Even a trip over by the courthouse proved disappointing
after I observed some officers talking quietly next to a squad car. Hmmm.

Well, the President did say that it might take a
while for the coming disaster to be felt. I’ll come back in a few days, to check and find out…

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